Geology, <i'-c. of the Connecticut. 27 



other singular and curious aggregates which I have never 

 seen at any other place. Among these is sienitic porphy- 

 ry — and sometimes the talco-micaceous rock has its surface 

 covered with delicate fascicular groups of hornhlende. 



The micaceous iron ore occurs in the talcose slate, and I 

 have never seen any of this sort of ore in any cabinet that 

 will compare at all for beauty with that in Hawley. 



6. Chlorite Slate. Clcaveland, 



Uncolored, hut dotted with black. 



In the region under description,! know of but two deposits 

 of this rock of sufficient extent to be marked on the map; viz. 

 at West-Haven and Milford^ and in Whitingham, Vt. At 

 the former place it is but imperfectly characterised, espe- 

 cially at its Northern extremity. As we approach the 

 coast, in West-Haven, its characters become more decided, 

 and here we find numerous small crystals of octahedral 

 magnetic iron ore disseminated through it. Where the 

 cliffs of this slate have long been buffeted by the waves of 

 the ocean, these crystals have been worn out, and are de- 

 posited in large quantities, in the form of iron sand, on the 

 beach. On the east side of Vv^est-Haven harbour, at tlie 

 Light House, also, this sand appears in equal abundance — 

 and tons of it may easily be collected. On that side of the 

 harbour there is no chlorite slate; and whether the iron 

 sand found there is the remnant of former chloritic strata 

 now wholly dismtegrated, or whether it is washed up from 

 the bottom of the Sound, where these rocks doubtless exist, 

 remains problematical. The latter supposition, however, 

 seems most probable. 



The chlorite slate of West-Haven is extremely tortuous 

 and undulating, and is traversed by numerous irregular seams 

 of white quartz- It alternates with greenstone slate and 

 passes into il; and also with mica slate. These three rocks 

 are often so blended together that the distinctive characters 

 of each are lost. And as we approach the strata of the 

 Verd Antique, they seem to embrace also some of the prop- 



*West-HaveQ and a part of Milford have recently been incorporated in- 

 to a separate town by tiie name of Oxford. 



